Hollingsworth
10-01-2007, 12:05 PM
Yesterday was a beautiful day on the water for the Anna Z and crew. For the record, the “Z” is a staysail schooner, 42’ LOD with a l-o-n-g bowsprit/pulpit… and if you count the davits aft (because the marinas always do when charging for slip fee) she’s 58’ overall. And no, mea culpa, except for the dodger, she is not wood. (In a previous post I confessed to breaking the wooden boat commandment, “thou shalt not steel”.)
Yes, she is steel hulled, designed by J Murray Watts. All 40,000lbs of her. I post on the WB forum because she’s a classic gaff rigged boat and I learn a lot here. Which, in a roundabout way, brings me to the story: After a beautiful day on the water (lower Lake Michigan) with 5 sails up, 3 adults, 4 children, a sandwich and a cold bevie, it was time to drop sails and head back in.
I have to pass through three bridges to get to my slip at my marina on the Saint Joseph river in Michigan. The first bridge is a railroad bridge on a turn-table, which stays open most of the time, so it’s not usually a factor. The next two bridges are highway draw bridges that open only at specific times, so timing is a factor. It’s second nature for me to enter the channel from the lake into the river with just enough time to comfortably make the first bridge. Yesterday my timing was off and I ran full throttle in the channel to see if I could pick up a minute or two. The race is on! But, just passing through the RR bridge I realized we weren’t going to safely make the first drawbridge, so I backed off the throttle, popped her into neutral to slow down a bit and informed the crew that we’d do a little creative circling amongst the little power boats and wait for the next timing. It’s only 25 minutes or so, have another sandwich, relax, skipper could use some more cheddar.
Except… why, all of sudden, is my helm not responding? The wheel in fact, is spinning all the way around. Something in the steering stripped. (Turned out to be a shaft key.) But in the meantime, I’ve still got some way on. Did I mention she displaces 40,000lbs? And we‘re coming up on some small pleasure craft… and that next bridge.
Quick, throttle back to stop forward momentum, raise a jib and catch just enough wind from to point my bow back to center! Drop the anchor! Okay, now drop that jib! Kids, down below in the forward cabin until Captain Daddy figures out what to do. Anchor holding? Yes? Phew…. now it’s just a matter of a call to Boat US. We were able to get the rudder in the middle by moving the shaft in the lazerette. With rudder midships, towing went okay. Admittedly, a little nerve wracking not being able to control steering and wondering how close my masts were going to be to the raised bridges. There was some impressive line-handling from my good friends at the dock to warp her into the slip.
After we were secure, it took more than cheddar to calm me down. I kept thinking that if I hadn’t have decided to play it safe and not run for the bridge at the very moment I did, I could have been under the spans, at 5 or 6 knots… with no steering. I never want to lose steering again, but thankfully, it happened at time & place where everything turned out all right.
Let's see if I can add a photo here... <img src="http://www.imagestation.com/7899773/4017886504.jpg">
Yes, she is steel hulled, designed by J Murray Watts. All 40,000lbs of her. I post on the WB forum because she’s a classic gaff rigged boat and I learn a lot here. Which, in a roundabout way, brings me to the story: After a beautiful day on the water (lower Lake Michigan) with 5 sails up, 3 adults, 4 children, a sandwich and a cold bevie, it was time to drop sails and head back in.
I have to pass through three bridges to get to my slip at my marina on the Saint Joseph river in Michigan. The first bridge is a railroad bridge on a turn-table, which stays open most of the time, so it’s not usually a factor. The next two bridges are highway draw bridges that open only at specific times, so timing is a factor. It’s second nature for me to enter the channel from the lake into the river with just enough time to comfortably make the first bridge. Yesterday my timing was off and I ran full throttle in the channel to see if I could pick up a minute or two. The race is on! But, just passing through the RR bridge I realized we weren’t going to safely make the first drawbridge, so I backed off the throttle, popped her into neutral to slow down a bit and informed the crew that we’d do a little creative circling amongst the little power boats and wait for the next timing. It’s only 25 minutes or so, have another sandwich, relax, skipper could use some more cheddar.
Except… why, all of sudden, is my helm not responding? The wheel in fact, is spinning all the way around. Something in the steering stripped. (Turned out to be a shaft key.) But in the meantime, I’ve still got some way on. Did I mention she displaces 40,000lbs? And we‘re coming up on some small pleasure craft… and that next bridge.
Quick, throttle back to stop forward momentum, raise a jib and catch just enough wind from to point my bow back to center! Drop the anchor! Okay, now drop that jib! Kids, down below in the forward cabin until Captain Daddy figures out what to do. Anchor holding? Yes? Phew…. now it’s just a matter of a call to Boat US. We were able to get the rudder in the middle by moving the shaft in the lazerette. With rudder midships, towing went okay. Admittedly, a little nerve wracking not being able to control steering and wondering how close my masts were going to be to the raised bridges. There was some impressive line-handling from my good friends at the dock to warp her into the slip.
After we were secure, it took more than cheddar to calm me down. I kept thinking that if I hadn’t have decided to play it safe and not run for the bridge at the very moment I did, I could have been under the spans, at 5 or 6 knots… with no steering. I never want to lose steering again, but thankfully, it happened at time & place where everything turned out all right.
Let's see if I can add a photo here... <img src="http://www.imagestation.com/7899773/4017886504.jpg">